Diane Sawyer Interviews Iranian President Ahmadinejad

Dec. 22, 2009

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Not only the Iranian nation, but all the nations of the world are united. Everybody wants American to change its behavior, to mend its behavior. Why did they invade Afghanistan? Why did they invade Iraq? Why are they threatening Iran? What do the American forces want in the Middle East? Why are they there? Do we have military forces in your region? Do we have warships, fighter jets, and tanks near the American borders? We don't. It is America that has. Why does it have? Why does it intervene in our region? Have the American interventions improved the situation in our region? Has security been established in the Middle East region? Has terrorism been controlled? Have narcotics been controlled? Or has the situation been worsened?

What has been the result of the American intervention in our region been other than killing, insecurity, and growth of terrorism? They should announce this so that everybody knows. The American government should report on its eight years of aggression on Afghanistan and Iraq. What has been the outcome? They should say, so that we know. They should report to the world. Why don't they report? Do you know that approximately 1 million people have been killed? Do you know that approximately 4 million people have become refugees? Do you know how many women and children have been killed? That the infrastructures of Afghanistan and Iraq have been destroyed? How many American and non-American soldiers have been killed? Who is going to answer for all this? Why has all this happened? What has been the outcome?

Politics is not a joke so that some American politicians come and make decisions like playing a game. It is about the fate of human beings, the lives of human beings, the security of human beings. The 1 million people who have lost lives, had wishes in their lives. They have got families, parents, children. They are human beings. Who is going to answer for all this? We don't like this situation to continue. We feel bad. Why should people be killed? Why should American and European soldiers be killed in Afghanistan? For what? What is the purpose of this war? They should say it clearly what the goal is. What has been the outcome? You cannot run the world like this. We object to this way of running the world. We oppose these policies. We oppose killing people.

And we announce that the American government should change its behavior. They are dealing with Ahmadinejad, not even with Iran. They are dealing with all the nations of the world. You should know, in South America, in Asia, in Europe, in Africa, the vast majority of nations are against the American policies. In this Copenhagen, there have been so many demonstrations, by groups of people. Who were they objecting to? To Iran or America? About the issue of environment, they are opposing the behavior of the American government. We oppose these policies and we announce it very clearly. We have already announced that we are ready to help these wrong policies improve. Mr. Bush was somebody who was only looking to kill. He had such a psychological condition that he enjoyed killing. He was killing the people. But Mr. Obama declared that wanted to bring changes. Where are these changes? What has changed?

SAWYER: Do you believe that President Bush wanted to see people killed?